Last season, Anthony Davis played almost exclusively at the center position, and he had a whale of a season. Although he missed about five weeks in December and January because of a right foot stress injury, he averaged 25.9 points and 12.5 rebounds a game while shooting 56.3% from the field.
He has stated multiple times that he doesn’t like playing at the 5. To try to give him a respite, the team signed free agents Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood to play center and allow Davis to slide to the 4.
Davis says sliding to the 4 spot has been an adjustment during practice.
Via Lakers Nation:
“Me and Jaxson were on the same team for the first couple of days. I think me and C-Wood were on the same team today for a stint. They were doing a good job, I was confused a lot. Just sliding back to the four during some possessions and it’s like ‘AD grab corner!’ Oh, I forgot.
“So it was good, just figuring some things out. I’m talking with the coaches and Jaxson and C-Wood about some things that I did with DeMarcus (Cousins), Julius (Randle) in New Orleans. So it’s been good. It feels good to stay out of 100 pick-and-rolls a game. Still got a lot to learn from it, still got a lot to explore. But it’s been good the first couple days.”
Sorting out different lineups and combinations will likely be a priority for Lakers head coach Darvin Ham during the team’s six-game exhibition schedule.